Blood plasma bottle



April 2, 1957 1. GREENSPAN BLOOD PLASMA BOTTLE Filed March 16, 1956garner/575 M @merza affawvze gxa United States Patent BLOOD PLASMABOTTLE Irving Greenspan, Skokie, Ill.

Application March 16, 1956, Serial No. 572,035

9 Claims. (Cl. 128-272) This invention relates generally to a containerfor perishable materials and more particularly is concerned with theconstruction of a container for blood plasma which is adapted to be usedfor direct application quickly and without difficulty.

Blood plasma is usually dried, and mixed with water just prior toadministration, and considerable difliculty has accompanied the use ofthe containers which are known, especially for field application. Theplasma is perishable, and hence it and a container of water arefurnished as two separate parts of a kit. The plasma is in powdered formand packed in vacuum and the water is sterile. The attendant isfurnished with a double ended hollow needle. One end must first beinserted into the water bottle cap, and the water bottle is then pickedup and the opposite end of the needle inserted into the plasma bottle sothat the vacuum in the plasma bottle draws the water through the hollowneedle and into contact with the dried plasma to become hydrated.Thereafter, the water bottle is removed and a tube with administeringend is attached to the needle now protruding from the plasma bottle. Theliquid then flows either by gravity, or through the use of a pump fittedto the administering tube, to the blood vessel of the patient.

The difficulties attendant upon the use of the kit described aremanifold:

1. In haste, often the needle will first be inserted into the plasmabottle, whereupon the vacuum is lost and there is no sterile way ofadmixing the dried plasma and water, and even if there were some way ofintroducing the water into the plasma bottle, the air sucked in when thevacuum is broken may well have contaminated the plasma. Thus there hasbeen in the past tremendous waste due to errors of personnel and thishad been particularly serious in combat, where the attendant may nothave much skill along these lines.

2. Bottle breakage is a cause of considerable loss.

3. The kit contains two bottles, and hence is heavy and takes upconsiderable space.

4. In forced administration, the pump must be fitted to theadministering tube and operated continuously by the attendant becausesmall size of the conduit in the needle limits the rate of flow.

This invention alleviates and eliminates the disadvantages of previousmethods of administering blood plasma and the principal object of theinvention is directed to provision of a structure for a plasma bottlewhich will eliminate and positively prevent the error of puncturing thewrong bottle with its attendant waste; the provision of a structurewhich is unbreakable; the provision of a structure for a plasma bottlewhich is a single unit, light in weight and of small volume; theprovision of a plasma bottle with which plasma may be forciblyadministered without the need for pumps or other fittings.

Many other objects of the invention will appear as the descriptionproceeds in connection with which I have illustrated a preferredembodiment from an examination ice of which, in connection with theexplanation, the invention should be fully understood and appreciated.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a plasma bottle constructed inaccordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken through the same along its axis.

3 is a sectional view through the plug of the bottle on an enlargedscale.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view through the bottle showing sameduring use.

Generally, the invention consists of a bottle of some flexible material,such as polyethylene, having two compartments, separated by a wall whichis normally plugged during transportation of the bottle. The driedplasma is in one compartment, and sterile water in the other, ifdesired. The plasma compartment is unplugged when it is desired to usethe same, and the plug becomes the cap for the bottle, such that wheninverted the needle of the administering tube may be inserted throughthe plug into the bottle. After unplugging the plasma compartment andclosing off the end of the bottle, the bottle is shaken to dissolve theplasma. When forced feeding is desired, the bottle is squeezed and itscollapse increases the pressure of the flow of plasma.

Referring now to the drawing, the bottle is designated by the referencecharacter 10, and it will be seen that same is formed in anyconventional shape, such as for example, having a cylindricalconfiguration providing cylindrical side wall 12 with a bottom wall 14closing off the bottle, and an upper neck 16 having an internallythreaded mouth 18 adapted to be closed off by a cap 2t) with a malethreaded portion 22. The bottle has a central diaphragm or wall 24provided with a central reenforced threaded opening 26 coaxial with themouth 18 and preferably of smaller diameter.

The wall 24 thus forms the interior of the bottle 10 into twocompartments, the upper or water compartment 28 and the lower or plasmacompartment 30. Obviously when used, as in Fig. 4, the compartments areinverted.

The cap 22 has a depending rod 32 of some inert material such asplastic, which telescopically engages with another rod 34 at the bottomof which is fastened a plug 36. If desired, a slot and pin connectionmay be provided to prevent separation of rods 32 and 34, but relativelytight frictional engagement is suflicient. The configuration of thetelescoping members 32 and 34 is such that rotation of the cap 20imparts rotation to the plug 36, irrespective of the positions of thecap and plug one relative the other. The plug 36 has an upper threadedpart 38 which is of a size to engage with the threads of the mouth 18,and a lower threaded part 40 which is of a size to threadedly engagewith the threads of the opening 26. The rod 34 is frictionally engagedin a suitable recess 42 in the plug 36 and the upper end of the rod 32is fixed to the cap 20. There is a diaphragm 44 in the plug 36 to enablea needle 46 on the end of an administering tube 48 to be insertedtherein as shown in Fig. 4 when the bottle 10 is used.

The bottle 10 is preferably formed of polyethylene or similar flexibleresilient material, and while shown as an integral structure may becomposite, that is-made up of two parts welded or cemented together toeliminate the need for complicated moulding procedures or coring. Anysuitable means for supporting the bottle 10 inverted may be used, suchas for example, a tape 50 secured to the side of the bottle by cement orthe like provided with a grommet 52 or the like.

In filling the bottle, first the dried plasma. is disposed in thecompartment 30. The assembled plug 36, cap 20 and the connecting rods 32and 34, is then manipulated so that the plug 36 is screwed through themouth 18,

Patented Apr. 2, 1957 greases after which the plug is lowered and partas is tightly screwed into the threaded opening as, thereby closing offthe plasma in the lower compartment. Thereafter water may be introducedinto the compartment 28 by any suitable means, and the cap 2% tightlyscrewed home. This process may readily be done under sterile conditionsin the manufacturing laboratory, and if required, the completed packagemay be subjected to heat for sterilizing purposes. The upper compartmentmay be left empty if facilities to provide sterile water available atthe place of use.

,In use, the bottle is prepared by first unscrewing the cap 20. Whilethis is being done, the plug 36 is being removed from the opening 26.The plug is thereafter lifted and screwed into the mouth 18 from thebottom thereof, as shown in Fig. 4. The cap 12 and rods 32; and 34 arethen pulled away from the plug 36. The bottle it) may then be shaken todissolve all of the plasma. Thereafter it is inverted into position, theneedle 45 inserted into the diaphragm 44 and the plasma immediatelyflows through the tube 48 to the patient. If pressure is desired, theattendant merely grasps the bottle 1d and squeezes the same and forcesthe liquid plasma through the tube 48. Any suitable valve arrangementmay be used to admit air into the bottle as the liquid 54 is emptied.

Obviously where the bottle MD is made of an inflexible material, all ofthe advantages of the invention accrue with the exception of theadvantage of being able to apply force by merely squeezing the bottle.

It is believed that the invention has sui'liciently been described toenable an understanding thereof, but it is desired to point out thatconsiderable variation is possible without departing from the spirit andscope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A container for storing and administering plasma, which comprises acomposite member having two compartments, an opening in one compartmentfor gaining access to the interior thereof from the exterior of thecontainer and having a removable cap closing the container, a passagewaybetween the compartments and a plug member normally blocking saidpassageway, means connecting the plug member and the cap whereby theremoval of the cap will remove the plug from the passageway into thefirst compartment, the plug and opening having cooperative means wherebyafter the cap has been removed, it can be manipulated to causeengagement of the plug with the opening, the plug having a needlereceiving diaphragm whereby to enable piercing of the diaphragm andcommunication with the interior of the container through the needle.

2. A container for storing and administering plasma, which comprises acomposite member having two compartments, an opening in one compartmentfor gaining access to the interior thereof from the exterior of thecontainer and having a removable cap closing the container, a passagewaybetween the compartments and a plug member normally blocking saidpassageway, means connecting the plug member and the cap whereby theremoval of the cap will remove the plug from the passageway into thefirst compartment, the plug and opening having cooperative means wherebyafter the cap has been removed, it can be manipulated to causeengagement of the plug with the opening, at least the second compartmentbeing formed of flexible material whereby to enable the manualcompression to decrease the volume of the container.

3. A container for storing and administering plasma, which comprises acomposite member having two compartments, an opening in one compartmentfor gaining access to the interior thereof from the exterior of thecontainer and having a removable cap closing the container, a passagewaybetween the compartments and a plug member normally blocking saidpassageway, means connecting the plug member and the cap whereby theremoval of the cap will remove the plug from the passageway into thefirst compartment, the plug and opening having cooperative means wherebyafter the cap has been removed, it can be ms ulatcd "to cause engagementof the plug with the ope-.nng, the and cap both being screw threaded,and the passageway and opening also being screw threaded, and theconnecting means being a member having the plug and cap non-rotativelysecured thereto.

4. A container for storing and administering plasma, which comprises acomposite member having two compartmenis, an opening in one compartmentfor gaining access to the interior thereof from the exterior or" thecontainer and having a removable cap closing the container, a passagewaybetween the compartments and a plug member normally blocking saidpassageway, means connecting the plug member and the cap whereby theremoval of the cap will remove the plug from the passageway into thefirst compartment, the plug and opening having cooperative means wherebyafter the cap has been removed, it can be manipulated to causeengagement of the plug with the opening, the plug and cap both beingscrew threaded, and the passageway and opening also being screwthreaded, and the connecting means being a member having the plug andcap non-rotatively secured thereto, but axially movable relative oneanother.

5. A container as claimed in claim 3 in which the plug has two axiallyarranged parts, one part being screw threaded and having a smallerdiameter than the screw thread of the opening but of a size to engagethe screw thread of the passageway, and the second part being screwthreaded and having a diameter to engage the screw thread of theopening.

6. A container for storing and administering blood plasma through ahollow administering needle, comprising a composite member having aninner and an outer compartment, the outer compartment adapted to containwater and having a cap thereon, a passageway between the compartmentsand a plug engaged in the passageway and closing same off, the firstcompartment adapted to have dried plasma therein, a means connectedbetween the plug and cap and arranged to cause simultaneous rotation ofplug and cap, and the plug being constructed to fit into the opening, sothat the cap may be removed and will simultaneously remove the plug fromthe passageway, and said cap can further be moved to drive the plug intothe opening to seal off the container but provide access between thecompartments thereof.

7. A container as claimed in claim 6 in which the plug has a needlereceiving diaphragm adapted to be pierced for draining liquid from thecontainer through the needle.

8. A container as claimed in claim 6 in which there is screw-threadedengagement between the cap and opening, and between the plug andpassageway, and when the cap is moved to drive the plug into the openingthere is screw-threaded engagement between the plug and opening.

9. A container as claimed in claim 6 in which the means between the capand plug is formed of at least two telescopically engaged membersnon-rotative one relative the other, but axially movable one relativethe other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,275,315 Smith Aug. 13, 1918 1,413,703 Biehn Apr. 25, 1922 2,419,453Kocevar Apr. 22, 1947 2,447,166 Daffer Aug. 17, 1948 2,693,189 Ryan NOV.2, 1954

